Of Arranged Marriages and Love
by tsuyuzamu
Summary: Ryoma Echizen, a senior, is now married to Seiichi Yukimura, a college student, due to a past family feud. Even though he knows little to nothing of his rather eccentric (And slightly sadistic) husband, Ryoma has no choice but to learn to love the man. So, in return, will Yukimura be able to relight the passion Ryoma lost? -SENSUAL PAIR aka YUKIRYO/AU story- [REWRITING]
1. Ryoma's Getting Married!

The moment Ryoma Echizen returned home from high school and saw his strange family gathered in the living room, the _happiest_ looks plastered on their faces, he just knew there was going to be trouble.

Ryoga was smirking like an idiot, his mother was nearly jumping to the ceiling with excitement, the old pervert was grinning mischievously, and Nanako was radiating utter delight for whatever situation Ryoma was in (which was a bad thing, because if Nanako was _ever_ delighted about something Ryoma was involved with, it was _never_ going to be an enjoyable experience). The four of them were quiet, no one yet revealing to Ryoma quite why they were gathered in the living room with such happy expressions. A long minute passed by before Ryoma took a step back from the room, a weird look on his face. "... I don't know what happened, but I'll figure it out later, I guess..."

"Wait, Ryoma..." His mother spoke, smiling brightly. She gestured for Ryoma to take a seat next to Ryoga. "I have some _very_ good news."

Good news? Coming from the smug looks on the old pervert's face and Ryoga's face, Ryoma could only wish that the 'good' news was something _actually_ good. He hesitated at first, then finally decided to suck up his doubt. Taking a seat next to Ryoga as his mother had requested, he gave his mother an expecting look. "Well... what is this 'good' news you need to tell me?"

She clapped her hands and beamed. "You're getting married in a week!"

Ryoma blinked. Did she just say...? _She did._ She said he was getting married. _**In a week**_. Ryoma's golden eyes widened in near-horror as the words began to register in his usually empty mind, and he had to use every ounce of will he had _NOT_ to explode in a frenzy of confusion. He didn't know whether to care or not, whether to be angry that his family arranged him into a marriage without his consent or not, or whether he should be depressed or not. The normally calm-headed Ryoma was now... not feeling the slightest bit relaxed. At least, on the outside, he appeared apathetic. While his mother just babbled excitedly with Nanako as Ryoga and Nanjiroh snickered uncontrollably, Ryoma sat in his place with the best poker-face he could muster. Then, he finally decided. He wouldn't do anything that he just thought he could do. Ryoma calmly stood up, and began to exit the living room.

"Ryoma, where are you going?" Rinko looked at her son curiously, worried that she may have angered him. She wasn't entirely sure how he'd have felt towards the arranged marriage, but it was still important to them, for their family and the other one. She could only hope that Ryoma would somehow take the shocking news somewhat easily, like he always did with surprising news. Ryoma paused in his steps, and only slightly turned his head, so that his face wasn't seen. "I'm... going to my room. To clear up my head. Excuse me."

He did as he said he would, going up stairs to retreat to the safety of his room. Once inside, he locked the door behind himself, almost stumbling to the bed and collapsing on it. He stared up at the ceiling with a blank face, his mind filled with thoughts and... for the first time in forever, _worries_. Who was he getting married to? What were they going to be like? How old were they? Ryoma definitely didn't want to get married to some old, perverted pedophile. But on the other hand, he didn't exactly want to get married to some six year old brat. If not six, someone who was... well, a brat. Ryoma was well aware that he himself was a brat, but that didn't mean that he could tolerate someone else like him. Then there was the fact that Ryoma didn't even want to get married AT ALL. He was perfectly fine with being single, because there was no one out there who was really interesting enough for him to really like. Besides, he was still just a 3rd-Year! Couldn't this arranged marriage situation have waited until he really did graduate from high school?!

Ryoma sighed. He didn't want to get married for numerous reasons, but at the same time, he could understand that there was a rather high chance he wouldn't get married at all in his life. And, that worried his mother and Nanako. He knew that Ryoga and Nanjiroh could care less of what Ryoma chose to do with his life, but he also knew that they still worried about his apathetic nature. After a serious bus accident back in his 2nd-Year of junior high, Ryoma lost the ability to play the sport he loved most, the sport that his entire life revolved around. That sport was tennis. Since then, Ryoma had lost all ambition. He had no ideas or plans for the future, no goals, nothing. He was interested in ping pong, but that was only slightly. Ping pong just wasn't the same, it didn't give the same tension and excitement that tennis gave him. When his eyes began to water, Ryoma quickly tried to stop thinking about the rather touchy subject. He didn't want to remember the pain. But, it was too late. He was already crying. And, before he knew it, he softly cried himself to sleep.

.

"Ryoma! Ryoma, open up the door! I have to talk to you!"

Ryoma stirred in his sleep, slowly waking up. When he finally became conscious, he sat up, rubbing his eyes sleepily with a soft mewl. How long had he been sleeping? An hour? Two? Ryoma didn't know, but after looking at his clock, he did know that it had become dark out. He stood up with a small stretch and shuffled to the door, opening it. It was his mother, whom was smiling brightly with an envelope in her hands. "Ryoma~ I have something that your fiance wanted to give you! You should take a look at it, dear!"

Ryoma raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it. He turned on his bedroom lights and took the envelope from his mother's hand, retreating to his bed. He opened it carefully and dumped out the envelope's contents onto his bed. A bad make-shift bracelet that looked a little too small for his wrist, a letter, and a photo. Ryoma picked up the letter first, reading it slowly.

**Dear Echizen Ryoma,**

**I am well aware that you may or may not take the news of this arranged marriage well. After all, what 3rd-year would? I definitely wouldn't have. Well, actually, depending on the situation I may or may have not taken the news well. And if you're wondering, which you most likely are, yes, I am older than you. But, worry not, I am only older than you by three years. I'm a college student as well, which you probably weren't wondering... but who cares, it's better to know as much as you can about your fiance before you get married, isn't it? Your parents are wonderful people, and they have told me much about you, Echizen. But, I don't think you've met me yet. Well, once upon a time, we did. I doubt you remember though...**

**I have a photo of me for you to visualize my appearance, to help calm you down, if you need it. Of course, I have better photos than that one, but where is the fun in that? Ha ha ha. Oh, I also have a bracelet that my little sister wanted to give to you as a congratulations gift. Appreciate it, she spent a long time putting it together, even though it doesn't really look it! ^^**

**Echizen, l look forward to meeting you tomorrow... really.**

**Signed,**

**Yukimura Seiichi**

"... Yukimura? That last name sounds... familiar." Ryoma murmured, a hand to his chin. He then picked up the photo, a tick of irritation appearing at his head. It was a photo of a toddler wearing a fluffy bear suit. The toddler had wavy dark-blue hair and a rather chubby face, their large navy eyes sparkled with baby curiosity. If anything, the baby photo of his fiance was incredibly cute (But Ryoma refused to admit it... out loud). On the back of the photo was a scribbled note, 'It's all up to your imagination'. Ryoma frowned, dropping the photo onto the bed. He then took the bracelet, remembering that Yukimura had wrote that it was made by their little sister. Then, Ryoma looked up at his mother, giving her a weary smile. "She sounds mature, at least."

Rinko blinked. "'She'...? Oh, I didn't... Ryoma, your fiance isn't a 'she'..."

His fiance wasn't a she? So then... his eyes widened in shock. And, the smile on his lips began to fade. He should've known from that masculine name, who would name their daughter 'Seiichi'?! Ryoma looked at his mother in disturbance, his eyes wide with disbelief. He could now hear the sounds of Ryoga snickering from outside his bedroom door, and he could also hear Nanako trying to shush him. Then, Ryoma finally burst.

"I'M MARRYING A _DUDE?!"_

* * *

**A/N:  
**

**Hiya, hiya! HitmanTargetsYou here!**

**This is my first Sensual Pair fic, so I'll try my best to get Yukimura and Ryoma in-character as well as possible. It's an AU, so some things may be changed here and there. Well, I hope you guys like the read, and I hope you'll look forward to the next chapter! If there are any mistakes, don't be afraid to review!**


	2. Ryoma, meet Seiichi!

Even Ryoma's _classmates_ noticed something was up with him, and since he was arguably the class's most calmest (and by calmest, most everyone in the class really thought _laziest)_ student, what could've happened to him piqued _everyone's_ interest. Normally the emerald-hair boy did _not_ stumble around like a fool, he did _not_ mess up during English class, and he most definitely did not just wake up in the middle of math class shouting at the top of his lungs, "MOM, I'M NOT MARRYING ANOTHER GUY, THAT'S JUST _GAY!"_

That was the first time he was sent out into the hall.

Now, Ryoma was also well aware of the obvious fact that... something wasn't _right_ with him. Of course, only he knew the reason for that. The reason being that the day before, he received news that he was just put into an arranged marriage. That wouldn't have been so bad, if not for the fact that his fiance wasn't a 'she', but a _'he'_. He didn't even know anything about his fiance, whom had the most _wonderful_ sense of humor, giving him only but his baby picture as a reference to his looks. Then of course, that same day his stupid older brother tried to scare him with unbelievable facts about married couples. Ryoma may have been gullible back as a kid, but now that he was 17, he wasn't so stupid that he'd believe that after married couples have intercourse, babies will magically appear at the doorstep. How many kids depending on how many times they did it before marriage. But - that wasn't the only reason why he was behaving so out-of-character.

The biggest reason for his behavior other than the whole 'I'm marrying someone anonymous that is the same gender as me'? He was going to meet his beloved as soon as he got home. And, not only that, but they would be living together until a few days before the marriage... and since the marriage was going to be in a week, that meant he had to deal with his fiance for an entire WEEK. The worse part? No, he wasn't going to be sleeping in another room. His fiance was sleeping in HIS room. On HIS bed. With HIM. Ryoma couldn't believe how his entire life just flipped in the span of one night, but it happened. It happened, he was in Hell, and the world was ending. Of course, being overly-dramatic was also uncharacteristic of Ryoma, so naturally he tried to come to an understanding with himself. Maybe getting married to someone of the same gender wasn't going to be so bad. Maybe his fiance would be nice. _Maybe._

And, a second later, the school day had ended. Ryoma dreadfully trudged to the lockers, switching out his shoes slowly, and began to walk home..._ slowly._ It was sunset, and the sky was on fire. Ryoma sighed, scratching at his head. What did he do to deserve such a horrifying punishment from whatever God(s) that existed? And, as he continued walking home, he barely even noticed a fancy black car pulling up towards him. When the driver honked his horn, Ryoma paused, stopping in his tracks to look at the car. He raised an eyebrow, curious as to what was going to happen. Worst case scenario, an angry yakuza member wanted his money. But, Ryoma didn't let his usually-inactive imagination run free, since the car window began to roll down. In the seat was a young man with dark-blue wavy hair wearing a suit. He also wore sunglasses, so his eyes couldn't be seen. Ryoma felt a tinge of remembrance, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He had seen this guy before, but where? Ryoma coughed, and looked him in the eyes. Well, not the eyes due to the sunglasses, but hopefully the eyes. Then, he spoke. "You got some business with me?"

The driver smiled. "Yeah, I do. You're Echizen Ryoma, right?"

"And if I'm not?"

"But you are. I recognize you. Get in the car, I'll drive you home." The driver instructed, chuckling softly. Ryoma scoffed. "Sorry, my mom told me not to talk to strangers."

"But your mom didn't say anything about getting into the cars of 'strangers'? And, I would like to point out that you _are_ talking to me."

"Same thing!" Ryoma snapped, glaring at the man. He chuckled again, and took off his sunglasses, revealing familiar navy blue eyes. "Do you recognize me now?"

Without the sunglasses on, Ryoma couldn't help but feel that the man was... _incredibly_ handsome. Ryoma tried to stop himself from thinking such 'gross' thoughts, but it was already too late. He had already acknowledged the fact that the man was... well, attractive. He had feminine facial features, but not enough to be mistook for a female. He also looked young, maybe 20-ish. Ryoma gulped, and then realized. Those knowing violet eyes... were the same eye color that the baby had from the baby picture. Ryoma could also now see the resemblance... so that meant... Ryoma suppressed a gasp. THIS guy was his fiance! Ryoma smiled smugly, taking a step closer. Okay, so now that he got to see his fiance, he concluded that he was at least attractive and not just some boring dude. "Interesting. You're my fiance?"

"I'd prefer if you call me by my name."

"I don't remember it."

"Then I'm not telling you until you do. Now, get in the car."

Ryoma rolled his eyes and did as he asked, walking to the passenger's side and opening the car door. He stepped inside and closed the door, noting how it was so incredibly cold inside and smelled of roses. The car began to move, and his fiance spoke. "Do you seriously not remember my name?"

"My mom dropped me when I was a baby."

"Ah, so you have selective memory? I understand. Don't worry, my mom dropped me when I was a baby too."

Ryoma turned to look at his fiance, and he couldn't help but smile. So he somewhat had a sense of humor, and Ryoma could definitely tell that he wasn't going to be boring. In short, they were off to an...okay start. He looked at the man's rather formal attire again and asked, "What's with the suit? Are you some kind of business man?"

"No, plans were changed. We're getting married today."

"Eh?!"

"That was a joke, I was kidding. I just wanted to dress nice to impress my fiance." He replied amusingly. Ryoma frowned and tsked, looking out the car window. His fiance wasn't going to be uninteresting, but he was definitely going to be a major pain in the ass. He wasn't a brat, but Ryoma didn't like knowing that he was marrying someone as equally witty and sassy as him. Coming to think of it, even though this was their first time meeting, this guy was already getting the last say. Ryoma sighed, rubbing his temples as he felt an oncoming headache. His fiance glanced at him for the slightest second, then looked back to the road. He was already liking the boy. "So then, how was school today?"

"Other than the fact that I nearly lit myself on fire in Chemistry today because of you, it went pretty swell." Ryoma replied in an uninterested tone, still looking out the car window. His fiance laughed again, and it was silent the rest of the way. It wasn't exactly an awkward silence since Ryoma was pretty comfortable the entire drive, but he wasn't fully relaxed either. His fiance on the other hand seemed unfazed. During the drive, Ryoma was able to clear up his head. So his fiance wasn't ugly, he wasn't boring, and he was... 'fun', to say the least. But that didn't mean that Ryoma was really thrilled about having the guy live with him for an entire week, then marrying him at the end of said week. When they reached his home, his fiance got out first, making his way to the passenger side and letting Ryoma out. "Do you want to hold hands?"

Ryoma stifled a laugh. "What are we? Five?"

"We did when you were four."

"What?"

"Ah, it's nothing. Anyways, let's go inside, it's getting dark." His fiance said, looking up at the sky. Ryoma nodded and started walking to the front door, hands in pocket. His fiance knocked on the door, and a few minutes later, his mom answered it with a bright smile. "Ryoma! Yukimura-san! Welcome home!"

Ryoma smiled, and finally remembered. His fiance's name was Seiichi Yukimura. He looked at Yukimura for the quickest moment, then sighed, his smile fading. "I'm going to go do my homework."

"I'll go help you."

"I don't need help. All my subjects are really easy, so the homework isn't hard." Ryoma replied, walking up the stairs. Awkwardly enough, Yukimura's eyes were on him until he was at the top of the stairs. And once he was out of Yukimura's line of eyesight, Ryoma paused for a moment, wondering if he should've invited Yukimura to his room anyways. A second later, he then decided not to. If he wanted to come in, he would just come in himself. No need for an invitation, because after all, they were fiances. Besides, Ryoma also didn't want those _knowing_ eyes to be on him for who-would-know-how-long. Ryoma then mindlessly dropped his things to the floor and changed into his casual wear. After that was done, he took out his homework assignments and settled down into his desk chair. Then, he started working.

About an hour later, Ryoma was almost done with his math homework. He just needed to do two more problems. That was the case, at least, until he heard his bedroom door creak open. He rolled his eyes and loudly warned, "RYOGA, DON'T YOU _DARE_ FUCKING THROW KARUPIN AT ME! I'LL BEAT THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF YOU WITH MY TENNIS RACQUET, _I SWEAR."_

"Well, good thing I'm not Ryoga planning to throw Karupin at you."

Ryoma froze. He slowly turned around, seeing Yukimura at the door. He was wearing pale-green pajamas, and was smiling amiably, as though what Ryoma said earlier was nothing all that bad. Yukimura closed the door behind himself and sat down on Ryoma's bed, crossing his legs. "You said you have a tennis racquet. Do you play tennis?"

Ryoma frowned and went back to work. "I still have two more problems. You'll have to shut up for a little bit."

A few minutes later, he finished all his homework. When that was done and over with, he put his homework assignments away and then sat back down at the desk chair. "What was your question?"

"You play tennis, don't you?" Yukimura asked, lying down on the bed. Ryoma kept silent. When a long minute passed by, he softly replied, "No. Something happened. Something that I'd rather not remember." Yukimura sat up, looking at him for the longest time. Then, he smiled. "I won't push you into telling me, then. Well, you haven't had dinner yet. Go downstairs and eat something."

Ryoma smiled smugly. "I don't need you telling me that. My stomach tells me all the time."

He got out of his chair and started to leave his bedroom. But, he paused at the door. He suddenly walked over to Yukimura, taking his hand and feeling it. Yukimura could only stare at Ryoma in surprise as he felt a slight blush creep onto his cheeks. Ryoma looked so concentrated, so interested. He glided his fingers across his hand, running them across Yukimura's callused fingers and palm. When he was done, he let go and nodded. "So you played tennis too? That's cool."

He did nothing more, and said nothing more, only exiting the bedroom. Yukimura just stared at his hand, at he smiled. Ryoma was truly an interesting boy... he was really looking forward to their upcoming marriage.


	3. Ryoma, keep calm!

Two days had passed since Yukimura started his full-week stay with the Echizen family. And in those two days, Ryoma observed that Yukimura was an incredibly smiley and relaxed character. In fact, he was so chill about everything, it _scared_ Ryoma. Ryoma may have been the most apathetic of teenagers, but he was always wary of the fact that one day he'd have to face Yukimura's darker side. If he even had one, which Ryoma was highly sure he did. The quietest people, from what he had heard, were the evilest. Though at the same time, Ryoma did want to see just how dark Yukimura could get. It was like a challenge to piss off the not-so-easily-irritable. Now, deep in his consciousness he knew that was just suicide, but hey, he was a teenager and teenagers got curious every once in a while, did they not? But, he wasn't going to try and make Yukimura angry any time soon. It was already too much work to try to get the last say in a wit battle with him, who knew how much work it'd take to make the guy angry. So now at the current moment, Ryoma was just lying on his bed, reading a book without actually reading it. In short, he was wasting time.

A few minutes later he put the book down and closed his eyes. He had nothing to do, so he would just go to sleep. He always had nothing to do after he stopped being able to play tennis. When Ryoma began to drift off to sleep, he heard his bedroom door creak open. He opened his eyes again and frowned, sitting up to look at the person who had disturbed his time alone. If it was Ryoga or Nanjiroh, he'd go back to sleep. His mom or Nanako, then he'd just listen to what they had to say then go back to sleep. But it wasn't either of the four options, of course. It was Yukimura, whom was smiling his same knowing smile. Ryoma frowned. He had forgotten that there was _him_ now, too. "Hello, Echizen-kun. Your mom told me that you would probably be up here doing nothing, and look, she was right."

Ryoma frowned. His husband-to-be was incredibly blunt, just like him. He wasn't sure how he'd like that, but Ryoma quickly shrugged the comment and thought off. "Yeah, so what? Do you need something, Yukimura-san? If not, then you could just leave cause I'm taking a nap."

"I'm not sure if I like that attitude of yours." Yukimura smiled, and walked further inside. He grabbed Ryoma's wrists and pulled him off the bed, ignoring the cries of protest coming from the 3rd-Year. "Come on, Echizen-kun. We're going on a date."

"Date? What's with the poor word choice?" Ryoma scowled. He didn't like the idea of going on a date with Yukimura. The man was weird enough as it was. But Yukimura only dragged him out of the bedroom and started pulling him downstairs. "We're fiances, so it's only right to call it a date. By the way, I'm taking you to the mall. If you want, we could even pick out a dress for you to wear at the wedding."

Ryoma scoffed. "I'll be fine, thank you. Because I'm _not_ wearing a dress any time soon."

"Are you sure about that?" Yukimura questioned, and in a fashion so serious, he almost managed to make Ryoma second-think. He glowered at the blue wavy-haired male holding his wrists so tightly. "Why don't you go marry a girl if you want to see me in a dress so badly?!"

"Ah, but Echizen-kun..." Yukimura began, a fond warmness filling his navy eyes. "I only want you, my sweet..."

Ryoma visibly gagged. He finally managed to rip his wrists away from Yukimura's grip and promptly backed away, still glowering at the older male. "D-Don't say such creepy things, you fucking weirdo...! It's not like we had a choice in this marriage, so don't say disturbing stuff...!"

For a moment, Ryoma regretted the words that had already come out of his mouth, because the look of utter hurt that flashed on Yukimura's face was anything _but_ fake. However, Yukimura turned around before Ryoma could clearly see it. He sighed and started to descend further down the stairs without him. "You're right... go back to sleep, then."

"I'll go."

"What?" Yukimura blinked, and turned around to face the boy. He suppressed the oncoming smile as he suddenly felt teasing again. "What did you say? I didn't quite hear you."

Ryoma glared daggers at the young adult as he went back to his bedroom to grab his jacket off his desk chair, slipping it on and moving on to find his shoes. "I said I'll go shopping with you, so don't go moping around the house now...! Mom or Nanako would nag me to apologize till the day I die!"

Yukimura smiled amusingly. Ryoma wasn't as bratty as he thought he'd be... who knew that the kid could get compassionate sometimes. _Sometimes_, was the key word. Yukimura then walked back to Ryoma's room and sat down on the teenager's bed as he waited for the other male to get ready, watching him cheerfully. Ryoma, on the other hand, was really irritated with himself. If this was all some trap that Yukimura made to make him feel guilty and go shopping with him, he'd kill the guy. Once he found his shoes, he slipped them on and tied his laces, doing a quick look-over of himself in the mirror. Once he confirmed that he looked okay enough to go out into public (Ryoma may have not cared how others viewed him, but he still didn't want to look like an utter _maniac_), he looked at Yukimura. "Okay. Let's go."

"Sure~ Whatever you want to do, Echizen-kun." Yukimura hummed. Ryoma frowned. "Oh? I thought that going to the mall was your idea, _Seiichi."_

He smirked in satisfaction when he saw Yukimura freeze in motion for a quick second, obviously surprised by the sudden change of name-calling. Ryoma left his bedroom quickly before Yukimura recovered from the shock. He paced downstairs and ran out the door, forgetting that Yukimura had the damn car keys. He would have to wait for the man. Ryoma sighed to himself. He would've preferred to wait in the car so he could lock Yukimura out and tease him some more, but unfortunately, he didn't have the keys. With that, he leaned against the passenger side and impatiently waited for the young adult to leave the house. It was a few minutes before Yukimura emerged from the front door, wearing a white tee. Under that was a striped green tee. He also wore a pair of blue denim jeans and brown sandals. When he caught Ryoma staring, he smiled brightly. "Ah, did I keep you waiting too long, Ryoma?"

There was a smugness to that happy smile that irked Ryoma like fire to skin.

He rolled his eyes and pointed to the car door. "Yeah, in fact, you did. Now can you open the damn car doors so we can go?"

"My, you're so eager to go... is there something going on at the mall today?" Yukimura replied calmly, making his way to the younger male with a nonchalant expression. Ryoma frowned again and turned his head away, folding his arms. He didn't answer because getting into a battle of wits with Yukimura was just that damn tiresome. But, Yukimura wasn't ready to stop teasing the 17-year old so easily. He leaned over him, one arm propped against the car to balance his weight as he loomed over Ryoma. "If you let me kiss you, I'll open the door."

Ryoma felt his stomach drop. "What?"

"Let me kiss you, and I'll open the door." He smiled. Ryoma glared at the older man angrily, trying his hardest to stop his already-warming cheeks from turning red. Yukimura didn't budge. "Well? We can't stand here forever."

"Exactly...!" Ryoma growled. "And I'm-"

Too late, Yukimura's lips were already on his. Ryoma's first thought was to knee him, but he stopped as soon as he realized that he was actually... enjoying it. The way that Yukimura's warm, soft lips rubbed against Ryoma's own felt so _right_, as though they were molded _exclusively_ for each other. But - Ryoma being the stubborn brat he was - shoved the older male away as soon as he realized his pleasure. He blushed this time, unable to stop himself, and turned away. "Th-There...! Now open the damn car door!"

Yukimura blinked, and smiled. Ryoma was so cute.

.

The mall wasn't as full as it usually was on Sundays, so Ryoma and Yukimura were able to get around pretty easily. They wandered for a bit, going wherever Ryoma wanted to go, which was to a games store then a book store, and then finally stopped by a bakery for something to eat. Yukimura was in the mood for pastries while Ryoma didn't care what he had just as long as he had something good, so they worked out their troubles pretty smoothly. Once they got a box of cake, they sat down at a nearby table and ate silently. It was weird, but at the same time... it wasn't. Ryoma looked up from his cake to look at Yukimura's distant expression often because he couldn't figure out whether Yukimura was enjoying himself. Perhaps it was because they barely knew the other enough to talk so casually, but Yukimura never tried to strike up a conversation with Ryoma. He was always so silent, so... wistful. It wasn't as though Yukimura's lack of conversation really bothered Ryoma that much, he preferred for Yukimura not to talk anyways, but he was always wondering how long the silence would go on before one of them started to grow tired of it.

"Ryoma-kun... do you feel like this marriage is going to work out?"

Ryoma was caught off-guard by the sudden question. But, he quickly recovered. "I don't remember giving you permission to call me by my first name."

"Nonsense, we already established that we were comfortable enough with each other to be calling each other by our first names. Besides, you were the one who started it. Anyways, Ryoma-kun, answer my question... do you feel that this marriage is going to fall apart?" Yukimura murmured, his eyes narrowing. There was a slight melancholy look to them, and Ryoma sighed. "I can't exactly say that I'm excited to marry you... but I can say that depending on the situation, I can tolerate you at the most..."

"Which means...?"

"The marriage won't fall apart. I promise." Ryoma looked up, the look in his eyes so genuine, Yukimura for a second was sure everything would be fine. There was still doubt in his heart, but Yukimura softened. "Thank you..."

Ryoma didn't know what Yukimura was being so worried about. Was it about the family feud that happened so many years ago? The very reason why they were getting married in the first place? He didn't understand, but he at least Yukimura wasn't moping anymore. Of course, the idea that Yukimura was genuinely in love with Ryoma crossed his mind too, but he immediately shot that thought down. There was no way that Yukimura could actually like him. After all, they barely knew each other. Everything that Yukimura had ever done to him was only simply because the damn college student loved teasing him to the best of his abilities. He sighed to himself as they both finished their cakes in silence. A good silence, to be exact.

Once they finished, they threw their boxes away and continued on their walk around the mall. Ryoma was running out of bath salts back at home anyways, so he might as well restock. Yukimura even offered to try some out since Ryoma liked them so much, so that was extra brownie points for him on the 'Ryoma's-friendship-scale'... if he even had one. While on their walk to Ryoma's favorite bath store, ahead of the two was... someone very familiar. And Ryoma froze. He grabbed Yukimura's wrist and stopped him from going any further. "Seiichi-san, stop."

"What? What is it?" Yukimura questioned, looking around for whatever could be making Ryoma so nervous. Just then, he heard the sounds of pattering footsteps, and a loud, "LOOK OISHI! THERE'S OCHIBI! OCHIBI, OVER HERE!"

Ahead of them was an energetic redhead jumping up and down as he waved his arms like a madman. Next to him, nervously trying to calm the redhead down, was a black-haired young adult. He looked weary, as though he'd been dragged from Kyoto to Tokyo without sleep. When it registered in Yukimura's head that this 'Ochibi' was Ryoma, he turned to his fiance with a teasing smile. "Are they friends?"

"Friends? They're annoying... well, at least Eiji-senpai is." Ryoma sighed. "I don't get how Oishi-senpai was able to stand him for so long. Long story short, when I was still in my junior high school's tennis club, they were my upperclassmen. Known for their amazing Doubles play, they were dubbed the Golden Pair. They're in college now, I guess..."

The Golden Pair promptly made their way over to the fiances, smiling happily. Ryoma only wallowed in self-pity.

"Echizen-kun! Long time no see! I haven't seen you since you were just a small first-year!" Oishi beamed, not in any way teasing the smaller male. He was just genuinely glad to see that Ryoma had grown up, looking less childlike than he did the first time they met. Eiji, on the other hand, _loved_ teasing his baby. He pulled at Ryoma's cheeks and and spoke so fast, Ryoma could barely keep up with his words. A few minutes after their rather energetic reunion, Eiji propped his hands on his hips and stared at Yukimura. "And who're you? Ochibi's boyfriend? Wait, oh my Gods, Ochibi has a _boyfriend!_ Ochibi, why didn't you tell us? Oh, we need to tell Fujiko and the others Oishi!"

"Now, now Eiji... it's not good to come to conclusions... you don't know if he really is Echizen-kun's boyfriend or not..." Oishi lectured.

"He's. Not. My. Boyfriend." Ryoma growled through grit teeth, but Yukimura rested one hand on the boy's shoulder, smiling gently. "We're not dating... we're getting married."

Eiji and Oishi just stared at Yukimura, wide-eyed. Ryoma struggled not to strangle his fiance, losing almost the last bit of self-control he had left. And Yukimura continued to smile amiably. "In fact, we're getting married by the end of this week."

Eiji blinked. Then, the realization of Yukimura's words finally hit him. "Oh... My... Gods... _OCHIBI'S GETTING MARRIED?!"_

Oh, **_hell._**


	4. Ryoma, what do you like?

"So…" Began Eiji as he started to take a sip from his red slushie. "How did you two meet? Where did you meet? What do you see in each other?"

Ryoma tched, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair irritably. "It wasn't my choice. My mom - "

" - well, Kikumaru-san, you see, my family and Ryoma's used to _hate_ each other terribly, and in the past, we had many, many family feuds. So, to settle the darn matters, this and that happened between our grandparents, and it resulted in the requirements of an arranged marriage between our two families. It's all boring and complex, really, so you wouldn't want to hear the details…" Yukimura smiled, clearly oblivious to Ryoma's obvious irritation in being interrupted. Eiji nodded, taking another sip from his slushie. "Yeah, no offense, but that does sound boring, nya!"

"Eiji!" Oishi scolded, then turned to Yukimura with wide eyes, "It's not boring at all, Yukimura-san! I find this all to be quite fascinating, dramatic, and interesting! It's almost like a romantic book!", he then blushed a soft shade of pink, and Oishi smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry if I'm coming off as strange even though we just met, but…"

Yukimura smiled politely. "It's not a problem, don't worry about it, Oishi-san."

"Oishi, you've been reading too many romances…" Eiji sighed. He then winked at Ryoma. "Am I right?"

Ryoma shrugged, making a face. "I don't know, don't ask me…!"

How did they even get into this setting, sitting with Eiji and Oishi in the food court, in the first place? Oh yeah, when they freaking ran into them while on their way to a body works shop. That stupid Yukimura told the Golden Pair that he and Ryoma were going to get married, and that stupid Eiji wanted to know more, so they were all _dragged_ to the food court, which led to what was happening now. Ryoma sighed to himself in self-pity. He wasn't usually so pissy, but in his defense, everything had been getting on his nerves lately. Again, Ryoma sighed. "Hey, I don't want to sound like a brat, but can I go now?"

Yukimura smiled. "Sure you can. But I would like to chat with Oishi-san and Eiji-san a little longer. Is that fine?"

"Ah, wait, I want to hang with Ochibi a little longer, so I'm going with him!" Eiji piped up, jumping from his seat and latching onto Ryoma's arm. "Let's go, nya!"

"W-Wait! Eiji-senpai! Hold on!" Ryoma's struggles to free himself from his former senpai's grips proved to be futile when the stubborn young-adult refused to let go. He turned to Ryoma with his sneaky cat grin, smiling from ear-to-ear. "You're not going anywhere! I want to hear more about Yukimura-san from you! Now stop being fussy and come on!"

.

"So…" Oishi began, smiling at Yukimura. "They've both run off. You said that you wanted to talk, right?"

Yukimura nodded. "Mm. I just wanted to ask you a question first, though… excuse my nosiness, but… are you and Eiji-san seeing each other?"

Oishi turned red, then immediately covering his face. "N-No! Of course not, we're just friends…! Even though we thought about it and talked about it, we're just friends, honestly! I mean, yeah, Eiji is really cute sometimes, and he is the greatest friend ever, but I couldn't _possibly_ go out with him! Besides, it'd be like one of those 'forbidden love' novels, and I'm too shy to read those because a lot of them - "

"Oishi-san, Oishi-san!" Yukimura interrupted, laughing. He pat the red-faced young adult's shoulder, smiling reassuringly. "Don't panic, I was just teasing you, is all."

Oishi sighed in relief, the redness fading from his face so that he slowly reverted back to his normal, healthy color. "Oh… That's a relief. I'm glad… I was about to embarrass myself there."

The two laughed together for about a minute or so, then Oishi sighed, giving Yukimura a sincere smile of relief. "But you know, Yukimura-san, I'm glad to see that Echizen-kun is doing well… after all these years, I was still just a little worried about him, and if he had healed properly…"

Yukimura raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Oishi blinked. "You weren't…? You don't know?"

Yukimura shook his head. "Is this about why Ryoma-kun can't play tennis anymore? If it is, I _would_ like to know what happened…"

Oishi took in a breath, then after a moment of harsh contemplation, he gave in with a long sigh. "Only because I doubt that Echizen-kun would say anything, and as his fiance, you deserve to know… well, you see, Yukimura-san, back in his 3rd-Year of junior high, Echizen-kun was involved with a major bus accident… I don't know the details, but I do know that after that, Echizen-kun wasn't able to play tennis anymore. This all happened after me and Eiji already graduated from junior high, but I found out from a kouhai from that time when I came over for a visit…"

Yukimura nodded, suddenly understanding Ryoma's pain. He, too, knew how it was like to have tennis cruelly ripped away from his life. And to know that Ryoma was currently going through that torture, somehow, it set a bad ache in his stomach. Though, Yukimura did not let it show on his face. He smiled at Oishi. "Thank you for telling me… I know how he feels, and I wish I could talk to him about it, but…"

"You should!" Oishi exclaimed. He then leaned back in his chair, returning Yukimura's smile with one of encouragement. "Even though Echizen-kun wouldn't be so open about his feelings, I'm positive that if you feel the same, then it could just cheer him up, if even a little…"

Yukimura shrugged, "You think so..? Hmm…", he then sat up and stared at the younger male. "Ne, Oishi-san… you must've been a great senpai. I can see that you still really care about Ryoma-kun's well-being…"

Oishi's smile turned sheepish. "Well, they didn't call me the mother hen for nothing…"

.

"So, Ochibi… tell me, do you like Yukimura-san? Is he cool? Do you think he's perfect 'husband' material? Are you looking forward to marrying him?" Eiji gushed as he practically draped himself over the smaller male, his head perched on top of the other's. Ryoma frowned as he trudged along, elbowing Eiji's side. "You bet. I can't absolutely _wait_ to marry that loser. I totally want to live with him, and to be tutored - not to mention _tortured_ \- by him, and annoyed everyday by him. It's going to be sooo exciting."

Eiji frowned, pulling Ryoma's cheek. "Don't be so negative, Ochibi! He seems like a really nice guy! And he's practically a model! You should be excited!"

"Oh really, now? You try being in the same position as me, then come back and tell me how _excited_ you are to be forced into an arranged marriage." Ryoma spat, elbowing Eiji for the second time. Eiji only sighed, grinding his chin into Ryoma's head. "You're so childish, nya~"

"And this is coming from YOU?"

"Yep~"

Ryoma face-palmed, muttering, "Oh kami-sama…"

Eiji poked the teenager's cheek, then replying insistently, "Come on~ There has to be some aspects to Yukimura-san you like. List a few. Even if it's just the tiniest thing."

"I wouldn't tell you, even if there were any…"

"Oh, that's mean! Come on, just tell me! I was your senpai! And I still am!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"No!"

_"Yes!_ I mean, no! I mean - aaaarrgh, just shut up, Eiji-senpai! There's nothing to that stupid guy I like!" Ryoma declared, ruffling his own hair in irritation. Honestly, even now, Eiji was still as agitating and immature as ever! Eiji, oblivious to Ryoma's obvious irritation, laughed and got off the shorter male, patting his shoulder. He didn't understand why Ryoma was so fussy, because honestly, he could tell that with someone like Yukimura, Ryoma would be genuinely cared for. "Ochibi, I think you're lying. Fine then, just ONE thing… ONE thing you like about Yukimura-san."

Ryoma was about to make another fuss again when he stopped, thought about it, and softly muttered, "… His smile. I like his smile."

Eiji stared at Ryoma with wide eyes for a while, then he cracked a big grin. "Seeee?! I told you that there would definitely be something you'd like about him! And its something special, no less! If you marry him, you'll get to see his smile! Look forward to his smile, Ochibi, his smile!"

"That's only something cheesy, romantic people do and say." Ryoma frowned. Eiji rolled his eyes. "Well, you said it, and I was just agreeing. But don't be such a pessimistic baby! Come on, one more thing. One more thing, Ochibi!"

"His looks…?" Ryoma offered irritably. "Ugh, I don't know! Just stop bothering me about it!"

"Eeh? No way, I love teasing you, nya~" Eiji sang, pulling at Ryoma's cheek again. Ryoma frowned again and brushed his senpai's hand away, taking a few steps away from him, only to have the darn young-adult smoothly latch onto his shoulders again. "Eiji-senpai, why do you have to be so annoying?!"

"And _you_ Ochibi, why do you have to be so fussy?!" Eiji returned, pulling the shorter male's cheek again. He then smiled brightly, patting Ryoma's shoulders. "I've got an idea! Why don't we go buy Yukimura-san a small gift?"

"For what?!"

"We'll find a reason as we go, now stop dilly-dallying and let's go! Come on, pick up your feet!"

"Eeeeiiji-senpaaai…!"

.

Afterwards, the four people met up again in the food court, and Eiji dragged Oishi off waving goodbye. Then, Yukimura and Ryoma started to head back on their own. And as they walked on their way back to the parking lot, Ryoma seemed to be thinking very hard… at least he looked like he was thinking hard. His head was declined, and his line of focus was off. Yukimura cocked his head, and he elbowed the teenager softly. "Ryoma-kun? What's wrong? Are you bothered by something?"

Ryoma blinked, having been snapped out of concentration, and he shrugged, "It was nothing important… but um, I uh… me and Eiji-senpai did some shopping, and I got you something… as a present for dealing with such a brat like me… and stuff…", he murmured, averting his eyes again. There was also just the lightest tint of pink on Ryoma's cheeks. Yukimura chuckled and took the bag that was shoved into his chest. "Thank you, Ryoma-kun…"

He opened the paper bag to see a pair of silver earrings, and he raised a curious eyebrow. "How did you know that my ears are pierced? I don't believe that I wore earrings in front of you before."

"No, you haven't… but I have pretty amazing eyesight." Ryoma replied, shrugging. "It wasn't so hard to notice. Would you rather I got you something like a card?"

Yukimura shook his head and smiled sweetly. "No… these are just perfect."

Ryoma turned to the older male just in time to see his soft, pleased smile, and something within him fluttered with warmth. He then sighed, and mentally slapped himself. _No way! Stop thinking things like that!_

"But you know… I already have similar earrings."

"Just shut up and appreciate what you have!"

"Yes, yes…"


	5. Two More Days

Three days had passed since their "date" at the mall. And now only two days were left before his and Seiichi Yukimura's awaited marriage, signifying the alliance between their families. And Ryouma didn't know which was worse: The fact that he had to carry Yukimura's last name as soon as they were married (because Ryouma rather liked the last name 'Echizen'), or the fact that he would have to start living with Yukimura after their "honeymoon". Ryouma didn't necessarily _hate_ Yukimura, he just disliked how mysterious he was. Yukimura had that kind of aura, and look, where it seemed like everything about him was out in the open, but yet you would never be able to tell was he was truly thinking, and how he truly felt about something. Ryouma disliked not being able to know anything. He would preferred for Yukimura to be more straightforward, but one couldn't have it all, could they?

Ryouma lifted his head, staring straight up at the ceiling as he laid in the bathtub thinking about the upcoming marriage. Lately that was all he _could_ think about. His mother had told him to tell only few people, his closest friends, but he didn't really have friends anymore. Friends that were still in school, anyways. His old senpai back in middle school were the only people he would ever consider 'friends' (in secret, of course), but now that they were in college busy with their adult lives, he had... no one. Not that Ryouma minded, of course. Not a lot, anyways... Ryouma sighed to himself, letting his body sink further into the warm water. The scent of lavender bath salts drifted into nose, and he smiled softly. He always loved baths, they let him think so easily. He didn't need to tell his old senpai, Eiji was already going to do that by himself. The first to freak would be Momoshiro, the first to laugh would be Fuji, the first to lecture him would be Tezuka, and so on. Ryouma laughed a little, somewhat amused by the idea of them finding out. Just then, his thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Ryouma sat up and turned to it, calling out with a small frown, "Who is it?"

"It's Seiichi, who else?"

_Of course_ it'd be Yukimura. Who else was Ryouma expecting? He propped his arms on top of the bathtub, raising an eyebrow. "And what do you want?"

"Dinner's almost ready, so don't spend so much time in there, okay?" Yukimura replied through the door, and Ryouma smirked. "Okay, _mommy."_

"Why Ryouma, I didn't know you were into that sort of thing, but if that's what you want..."

Ryouma's face flushed, and grit his teeth in agitation. That bastard would _always_ find a way to get back at him, wouldn't he? "D-Don't bring that kind of stuff into this, pervert! I was just trying to mock you and you _know_ it! So leave already!"

"If that's what you want, babyboy. But I think 'Daddy' suits me more, since I'm a male, you know."

"LEAVE ALREADY!"

"Okay, okay, I'm gone..."

As soon as it was silent, Ryouma sighed, running a hand through his wet hair. His face was still hot, and his cheeks were probably still red. How did Yukimura even know about that kind of thing? Ryouma heard about from some kids at school talking about it, but Yukimura? Were college students perverted dreamers too? Disgusting. Ryouma pursed his lips, glaring at the water. "That stupid Seiichi-san... he's always acting so weird."

.

When Ryouma entered the dining room, he sat down in-between Yukimura and Ryouga, not pleased with the seating arrangement. One, he had to sit next to Yukimua, and two, he had to sit next to Ryouga. How much worse could it get, honestly? He sighed to himself, and leaned back, looking at the food before him. At least it was traditional Japanese food. He immediately started to eat his food, not fully listening to the discussion his family and his fiance were having. He didn't really care. It was only until Ryouga elbowed him in the ribs did Ryouma look up irritatedly, "What?"

"Kyoto or Hokkaido?"

"What?"

"Kyoto. Or. Hokkaido." Ryouga repeated, and Ryouma raised an eyebrow. "Kyoto...?"

Ryouga then turned to Yukimura. "That settles it. You two are going to Kyoto."

"What? Why? What's going on?" Ryouma demanded, his golden eyes narrowing. Yukimura smiled sweetly at him, using his chopsticks to poke at his food. "We were just discussing where we could go on our honeymoon. If you weren't so busy daydreaming, you could've decided where we get to go. But Kyoto is a nice choice, even if you weren't thinking when you chose it."

Ryouma sighed, rolling his eyes. "I'm sorry, _honey,_ will you forgive me?"

"Oh _darling,_ I'm not mad."

"Really? You sounded mad to me, _sweetheart."_

"Then you heard me wrong, _baby-boy."_

"Ryouma, Yukimura-kun, will the two of you leave your bickering behind closed doors?" Rinko requested, taking a sip from her cup of water. Ryouma sent Yukimura a glare from the corner of his eye, then replied to Rinko, "Yeah, okay, mom..."

Yukimura ignored the continuous glaring from Ryouma and simply smiled.

.

As it neared bedtime, Ryouma spent the rest of his evening doing his homework. He had nothing else to do but homework, and once homework was done, all he did was read. Every now and then he would play video games, but after tennis was taken away from him, he stopped playing video games so much. He always played on his Gameboy whenever he sat on a bus, waiting to get to the tennis courts for a school match. Now he couldn't even look at his Gameboy without remembering tennis. Ryouma sighed, rubbing his eyes. Tennis wasn't something he particularly enjoyed remembering. Just then, there was a soft mewling, and Ryouma felt something jump into his lap. He smiled softly and rolled his chair back, gently petting the Himalayan cat sitting comfortably in his lap. "Karupin..."

As though Karupin was equally happy to be with Ryouma, he meowed loudly. After Ryouma petted Karupin for a few minutes, he continued doing his homework. A few minutes had passed before there was a knock at his door, and Ryouma turned around, blinking. "Seiichi-san, if it's you, you can come in without knocking if it's open, you know... it's your room too."

The door opened slowly, and sure enough, Yukimura poked his head in. He smiled at him, walking inside and closing the door. "Well, that would be rude, no matter what, wouldn't it?"

"Whatever you say..." Ryouma said, shrugging. He turned back around and continued doing his homework. Yukimura strode over to the bed, sitting down and straightening the covers. "Ryouma-kun... can we talk about something?"

"Depends."

"I heard that... you got into a bus accident." Yukimura murmured, staring at him with his all-knowing violet eyes. Ryouma stopped writing for a moment, and then continued. He didn't even bother to reply. Yukimura, however, didn't take the hint and continued to talk. "I also heard that you stopped being able to play tennis after that. Ryouma-kun... I'm not going to be so arrogant as to say that I know how you feel, however... I was once in the same situation too."

Again, Ryouma stopped writing. Yukimura took that as a sign to continue. "Back when I was still in junior high... I was really into tennis too. But... something happened. I don't really feel like talking about what exactly happened, but I was told that I would never be able to play tennis ever again."

Ryouma turned to him, and opened his mouth, only to close it again. He turned back to his homework, but didn't continue working on it. Yukimura sighed, and laid down on the bed, blinking. "If you ever want to talk about it, Ryouma-kun... I'm always ready to listen."

"... I'll remember that." Ryouma murmured, and continued to work. A few more minutes had passed before Ryouma finished doing his homework, and he picked a sleeping Karupin up into his arms, getting into bed next to Yukimura. He glanced at the sleeping bluenet for a moment. He looked even more handsome with that peaceful, serene expression as he slept. Ryoma felt a small smile tug at his lips, and he almost laughed. He turned off the lamp and lied down, laying Karupin down on his chest, falling into a soft slumber as well.


End file.
